The NFL Foundation recently announced the launch of NFL FLAG-In-School PLAY 60 Champions, a new youth health and wellness initiative designed to support school districts in building sustainable, healthy school environments. This new initiative, powered by national non-profits GENYOUth and Action for Healthy Kids, rallies school districts to step up, sign on, and become champions for student health, creating active and supportive environments for youth that last during the school day and beyond. The announcement signals a major new chapter for NFL FLAG-In-School (NFL FIS), a program that has distributed more than 40,000 flag football kits to schools across the country since 2014, reaching an estimated 17 million students nationwide. PLAY 60 Champions expands that impact by equipping individual schools with resources and elevating support to the district level, helping embed movement and physical activity into the school day in a sustainable manner.
In the spirit of NFL Draft Week, when teams across the country select the next generation of stars, the NFL Foundation, GENYOUth, and Action for Healthy Kids are committed to “drafting” every school district in the nation into the NFL FIS PLAY 60 Champions movement. School educators can apply for an NFL FIS kit for the 2026-27 school year, which serves as the entry point to the PLAY 60 Champions initiative, and join the PLAY 60 Champions movement at flag.genyouthnow.org.
“Flag football is fun, inclusive and accessible to all, making it one of the most effective ways to get kids moving,” NFL Commissioner and GENYOUth Board Member Roger Goodell commented “NFL FLAG-In-School PLAY 60 Champions brings together the full power and platform of the NFL family to help schools create environments that inspire millions of young people to build healthy, active lifestyles.”
The announcement builds on the strategic affiliation between GENYOUth and Action for Healthy Kids, connecting school-level activation with district-level support to extend impact across entire school systems.
“With fewer than 1 in 4 school-aged children meeting daily activity guidelines, the need for engaging and inclusive solutions has never been more urgent. For 13 years, GENYOUth has delivered NFL FLAG-In-School equipment, curriculum, and resources schools need to empower students to be active before, during, and after the school day,” Ann Marie Krautheim, CEO of GENYOUth commented “Now, in partnership with the NFL Foundation and Action for Healthy Kids, we are taking that work to the next level, encouraging every school to apply for an NFL FLAG-In-School kit and join the PLAY 60 Champions movement.”
“Action for Healthy Kids partners with school districts to embed physical activity into the fabric of the school day and sustain it over time. With the NFL’s leadership and GENYOUth’s powerful track record activating schools, PLAY 60 Champions allows us to scale that impact across entire districts—so more kids can move, play, and thrive every day,” Rob Bisceglie, CEO of Action for Healthy Kids commented “And during Every Kid Healthy Week, our annual celebration of the extraordinary work schools are doing to support student health and well-being, there’s no better time to invite districts nationwide to join us.”
School district leaders who are interested in becoming NFL FIS PLAY 60 Champions, gaining access to district-level training, tools, and ongoing support from Action for Healthy Kids, can apply at www.actionforhealthykids.org/champions.
Flag football is a fun, accessible, and inclusive sport for everyone, and is one of the fastest-growing sports globally, with approximately 20 million players worldwide. This includes more than 4.1 million youth participants in the U.S. alone. NFL FIS is a proven, turnkey solution for schools that inspires participation in physical education and activity. The program’s positive impact on girls is especially noteworthy. Schools have reported increased female participation, the growth of all-girls afterschool flag football programs, and a rising recognition of girls’ flag football as a varsity high school sport. NFL PLAY 60 is the league’s national youth health and wellness program. For nearly 20 years, the initiative has empowered millions of youths to get physically active for at least 60 minutes a day by providing support for programs and resources that help kids live healthy lifestyles. As PLAY 60 approaches its third decade, the new NFL FIS PLAY 60 Champions initiative will bring together existing youth empowerment efforts across the NFL to motivate the next generation of leaders in our country to move, stay active, and have fun.